Dean Leads Among Possible Internet Voters

Dean Leads Among Possible Internet Voters
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 10, 2003


Filed at 5:33 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Howard Dean is clearly on to something with the Internet. A poll of Michigan Democrats found Dean, who has attracted thousands of supporters and millions of dollars through the Internet, led his presidential rivals by 11 percent among voters who would prefer to vote on the Internet in the Feb. 7 caucuses.

But among those who would rather vote in person or by mail, the former Vermont governor is tied for the lead, according to the Epic-MRA poll released Friday.

Michigan plans to allow Internet voting in its caucuses, a policy that has drawn criticism from all the presidential candidates except Dean and Wesley Clark. Several Michigan Democrats have filed a protest, arguing that the policy will put minority voters and low-income voters at a disadvantage. The challenge is pending.

Overall, the poll showed Dean with 21 percent support, Clark at 15 percent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts at 13 percent and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut at 12 percent. The remaining candidates were in the low single digits; 12 percent were undecided.

more.............

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Michigan-Poll.html

Because it takes less effort? That's the only reason I can think of, since it's still one person, one vote (well, theoretically). I like the idea, but not if it is truly discriminatory.

The digital divide is very real. This plan disenfranchises some of our most loyal constituents by making it more difficult, relatively speaking, to vote than more affluent -- and often white -- folks.

I'm actually a bit disappointed in Clark for not opposing this.

DTH

Because these positions were inferred from the fact that Clark didn't sign a petition 2 weeks after joining the race.

How do we know that Clark, himself, even saw the petition?

How many petitions and interviews etc. was in front of Clark 2 weeks into announcing his bid?

Has anyone asked him to state his position plainly?

Maybe he IS for Internet voting.....

But it'd be nice to base our discussions on what the Candidate has actually SAID.

DTH

going to the polls or by online, minoroities would be able to exercise their right to vote.

The only disadvantage to minorities would be that those who have computers, and many minorities don't have computers, would be able to vote from the comfort of their home; whereas, those who don't have computers would have to make the effort to leave their homes to vote.

For anyone who has had to wait in line to vote, you know what I'm talking about.

The lowering of barriers to entry for the affluent is the same as raising them for the non-affluent. It results in a skewed tally, and advances the notion of government by and for the rich.

DTH

How is this different?

And wouldn't lines be shorter if some were voting from home by mail or computer?

Although it is still underutilized among communities of color and poorer communities due to lack of education efforts.

In any event, absentee voting is not really discriminatory, because you only need an address, which you also need in order to be registered in the first place. That is a far cry from requiring a computer with Internet access readily available to you.

DTH

Internet voting is worse then unauditable touchscreens --- there is no such thing as a secure networked computer. Not to mention it makes intimidating people to vote a certain way possible.

Personally, i wish they would just mail out a ballot to everyone's mailbox and then have them return it. No lines. i know this would be a great waste of paper, oh never mind, there are too many problems associated with this: Fraud, anthrax, cheating, lost in transit. i guess that's why we don't do it. *sigh* but really, don't you think if they did it right, there could be a way to vote online? does anyone have ideas?

DTH

and would be just as secure as voting through the mail. Anthrax, obviously, wouldn't be a concern online, but there would be others like DOS attacks to prevent people from getting their votes in.

In terms of excluding poor people from participating, they could easily vote by mail from the comfort of their own homes, so I'm not convinced that this is a real concern.

But procedural due process is a big deal, and so long as this system is slanted so significantly in favor of the affluent, it's an issue.

It's not enough to say, "Oh, well those poor people could just vote in person or by mail." The fact is, it's a pain in the ass to go line up. It's a pain in the ass (although less so) to request your ballot by the deadline and send it back via mail.

It's not right to make things easier for the affluent to vote, while working-class communities and communities of color still have to do it the hard way.

DTH

Wesley Clark and Howard Dean fare well when matched against Democratic rivals in national and state polls, respectively, but they face an uphill fight against President Bush.

Bush easily outdistanced Dean, 50 percent to 32 percent, in a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for the Cook Political Report and released Friday. Bush bested Clark, 48 percent to 33 percent.

Dean, the former Vermont governor, is tied for the lead among Democrats in Iowa polls and leads in New Hampshire surveys. Clark holds a slight lead over his Democratic foes in national polls.

And considering that Clark has higher national name recognition due to his stint on CNN, then Dean is looking pretty good and will improve as more voters come to know about him.

Another poll done by Quinnipiac for Connecticut also shows Dean and Clark to be similar in a matchup against Bush.

President Bush had a narrow 47 -- 44 percent lead over Sen. Lieberman in a July 31 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Bush's approval was 54 -- 41 percent in that poll. Running Bush against other Democrats shows:

•Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry edges Bush 48 -- 44 percent;
•Former Gen. Wesley Clark gets 44 percent to Bush's 46 percent, a tie;
•New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean each get 45 percent to Bush's 47 percent.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x8465.xml

unless he starts another war, or Israel starts one for him.